


back into the fire (it’s always you and me)

by EllaYuki



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Derek POV, Episode Related, Gen, In Between 6x19 and 6x20, M/M, Missing Scene, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 08:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12553396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllaYuki/pseuds/EllaYuki
Summary: after kate escapes with the yellow wolfsbane, derek decides it’s time to go back to beacon hills. he also decides he should pick up stiles along the way, too.





	back into the fire (it’s always you and me)

he tries to chase her down, to at least try to get the yellow wolfsbane back, but his wounds hurt just enough to slow him down, and at one point her scent just vanishes. she probably hotwired a car or something, he thinks.

_to hell with everything_ , is the next thought that crosses his mind as he stops to catch his breath and let his body heal. if things are really as bad as they seem to be, enough for chris argent of all people to try and find him in brazil, he should probably go see what the hell is going on in beacon hills now.

as he heads back to his car, something needles at the back of his mind, but he pushes it stubbornly away. not going there. nope.

but by the time he slides the key into the car’s ignition, he’s already calculated the fastest route to virginia. (because he might not know what’s happening in his home town, but he knows this, for some reason.)

and he really _should_ get a new phone along the way.

~

he parks on the outskirts of lunga park, somewhere where he’s not in plain sight, and just takes a minute, a breath, the last few moments of peace he knows he’s going to have in the immediate future.

a second’s worth of doubt begins to creep in, because _why the hell_ is he even thinking of dragging stiles back into that madness when he’s finally gotten out, gotten away? what was he _thinking?_

‘you were thinking that if you have to go fight again, you’ll want someone you can count on to watch your back.’ he admits to himself. ‘you were thinking that he wouldn’t forgive you, any of you, or himself, if something were to happen and he was kept in the dark “for his own good”.’

from where he’s dropped it in the passenger seat, he picks up his shiny new phone, the one that doesn’t even have cora’s number in it yet, and dials one of the few numbers he knows by heart.

stiles picks up on the third ring.

‘sorry, sorry, this is important, i’ll be right back, promise i just have to-‘ he hears. (because, oh, right, he’s probably in class, _shit)_ and then, in a breathless rush, ‘hey, what happened, you okay? _who died?’_

and _of course_ stiles realized who was calling even when he didn’t know the number, of course. ‘calm down,’ he says, flatly, hoping (vainly) that for once, stiles would.

‘dude,’ stiles says, voice a rushed whisper, ‘you _literally_ never call. like, _ever_. so i’m thinking something terrible is happening. _again_. so. spill.’

he’s right. of course he is, he always is, and it kind of pisses derek off. still, there’s no time for that now.

‘scott and the others might be in some serious trouble,’ he tells stiles and hears the moment his breath catches in his throat and his fidgeting stills.

‘…what? no. i haven’t heard anything about…’ a beat. a moment of complete silence in which derek knows exactly the thought that clicks in stiles’ head. ‘of course they didn’t. dammit. i got out, of course the freakin’ didn’t.’

derek lets him have his half a minute of expletives (smirking a little to himself, because damn, stiles really _does_ have a mouth on him), before he interrupts him.

‘you’re going, right?’ he asks, although he already knows the answer before stiles indignantly says, ‘what kind of an idiotic question is that? of course i’m going. i’m leaving right now.’

and of course he is. ‘no, stiles, go back to class,’ he says because one of them has to be level-headed here. stiles sputters on the other end.

‘i’m sorry, _what?_ our friends are probably _dying_ and you want me to go back to class??’ he says it like derek has personally insulted him. derek sighs, long-suffering. honestly, if werewolves could get ulcers, derek would probably have one because of stiles.

‘ _yes_ , stiles. go finish your classes and _then_ come meet me. i’ll text you exactly where. i’ll pick you up and then we’ll-‘

‘woah, woah, wait up, _what?!?_ are you-? you’re he- no, of course you are. are you _insane?_ or do you really have a death wish? dude!’ his voice sounds like it doesn’t know if it wants to climb a few octaves higher in exasperated panic, or hiss in worried annoyance. derek has to force down both a grin and another sigh.

‘go back to class, stiles,’ he says again, and pulls the phone away from his ear. still, before he ends the call, he can still hear stiles’ ‘of all the stupid-‘.

he lets out a long breath.

(tries to convince himself this is the right thing.)

it’s going to be a long drive.

~

‘so, how’s your foot?’

‘toe’s still obliterated, thank you.’

‘you’re walking normally so it’s healed well enough.’

‘yeah, well. it’s been a while.’

‘it has, yeah.’

‘you _could_ check in more often, you know. let us know you’re not actually dead in a ditch somewhere at least.’

‘yeah. i guess.’

‘you guess.’

‘i’ll try.’

‘good.’


End file.
